VF Tire Solutions for Farm Equipment
Alliance’s Whole Farm Concept is a commitment to delivering a low-pressure tire solution for every piece of farm equipment that enters the field—from sprayers to combines and everything in between. The Whole Farm Concept helps farmers harvest the full potential of low-pressure tires by ensuring the benefits of machines equipped with them aren’t minimized by another piece of equipment operating with standard tires.
Alliance’s Whole Farm Concept is about delivering a variety of solutions—such as IF/VF and flotation tires—to help farmers fight soil compaction. 
Low-Pressure Tires to Reduce Soil Compaction
Low-pressure tires offer many benefits for farmers, including reducing soil compaction and increasing yields. Studies have shown that soil compaction can shrink yields by up to 15% in a single year and lead to diminished productivity for a decade. For example, a farmer averaging 200 bushel-per-acre corn yields could potentially bring in 230 bushels per acre if not for soil compaction. For a farmer working 1,000 acres of corn, this improvement adds up to 30,000 more bushels at the end of the season. At a conservative $4 a bushel, that’s $120,000! And, that’s just in the first year; reducing compaction can lead to 10 years of better yields.
Heavy, high-profile equipment like tractors, combines, and sprayers have historically been considered the primary culprits of compaction. However, compaction is caused by all kinds of machinery. Planters, drills, and all manner of other towed implements can create compaction, making it as critical to move them to low-pressure tires as it is the equipment towing them.
Combating Soil Compaction with VF Tires
Innovative VF (very high flexion) tires are one of the best tools available to farmers for fighting soil compaction. What is a VF tire? At their most basic, VF tires are tires with very flexible sidewalls. When a VF tire is loaded, its sidewall bulges, its footprint expands, and the load it’s carrying is distributed over a larger area—minimizing soil compaction.
Thanks to their sophisticated sidewall construction, VF tires can carry the same load as a conventional radial tire at 40% less inflation pressure. This offers a significant advantage when you consider that, as a rule, the amount of ground pressure exerted by a tire is approximately equal to the pressure of its operational pressure.
VF Tires for Every Stage of the Farm Cycle
Choosing the right tire for your farm equipment can pay significant dividends and, in many applications, VF tires deliver the largest advantage. Because of this, Yokohama Off-Highway Tires is dedicated to producing an Alliance Agriflex+ VF tire for every stage of the farm cycle under the Whole Farm concept.
Alliance VF Tractor Tires
The Alliance Agriflex+ 372 is a popular choice for both MFWD and 4WD tractors (as well as combine harvesters). The Agriflex+ 372 features a deep R-1W tread pattern for exceptional traction in challenging conditions and a D speed rating—meaning it can travel at speeds up to 40 miles per hour—for efficient road travel and moving quickly from field to field. In addition to steel belts, the 372 features a special stubble-guard compound for enhanced cut and chip resistance and long service life. Standing behind the Alliance Agriflex+ 372 is a 10-year workmanship and material warranty.
The Alliance Agriflex+ 354 is another favorite for tractors (it’s also a popular fitment for self-propelled sprayers) particularly those employed in row crop operations. The R-1W tread of the 354 delivers excellent performance both on and off the road. In the field, the 354 offers superb traction and self-cleaning, while on the road, its lugs are engineered to reduce road noise and enhance comfort. Like the 372, the 354 is steel-belted and able to travel at speeds up to 40 miles per hour. The 354 also comes with a 3-year field hazard and stubble damage warranty and a 10-year workmanship and materials warranty.
Alliance VF Sprayer Tires
The Alliance Agriflex+ 363 is designed to meet the needs of today’s self-propelled sprayers which often spend as much time on the road as they do in the field. The tire features a unique tread pattern that combines a traditional curved lug with blocks to produce a tire with more biting edges for enhanced traction in the field while its large number of blocks and high rubber-to-void tread ratio deliver exceptional operator comfort and long wear on the road. The 363 is D-rated for quick, efficient travel from field to field.
As mentioned above, the Alliance Agriflex+ 354 is also commonly equipped on sprayers and offers a more traditional tread pattern option to equipment in this application.
Alliance VF Combine and Grain Cart Tires
The Alliance Agriflex+ 372 CFO is designed to handle massive loads. CFO stands for Cyclical Field Operation and means the tire can increase its capacity when operating in cyclic conditions (where load increases and decreases dramatically), like at harvest. CFO tires can bump load capacity by 70% at harvest speeds under 6 miles per hour and 55% at speeds up to 10 miles per hour.
The Alliance Agriflex+ 377 helps reduce the compaction caused by some of the heaviest equipment on the farm. The 377 is at home on both spreader trucks and sprayers, where it delivers fantastic traction and helps keep machines moving, improve productivity, and reduce soil compaction.
Alliance VF Implement Tires
The Alliance Agriflex+ 381 and 881 help reduce soil damage caused by towed implements like planters, drills, balers, carts, and trailers.
The Agriflex+ 381 is an excellent upgrade for planters, balers, wagons, tillage, and other towed implements—allowing them to operate at 40% lower inflation pressure than a traditional radial tire. Like all Alliance Agriflex+ tires, the 381 is steel-belted, which provides puncture protection in the field and helps dissipate heat on the road—which is important, since it’s rated to travel at speeds up to 40 miles per hour. The 381 also features a unique stubble-damage-reducing tread pattern and rounded shoulders to help protect valuable farmland.
The Alliance Agriflex+ 881 is the perfect complement to the 381. Its cross-cutting rib tread pattern provides excellent traction in loose soil while its all-steel construction and stubble-guard compound provide protection against punctures, minimize downtime, and ensure equipment is operational during tillage and planting.
The Alliance Agriflex+ 389 is the world’s first VF flotation tire. The Agriflex+ 389 can operate at 30% lower inflation pressures than a conventional flotation radial and allows heavy towed implements like slurry tankers and grain carts and wagons to mirror the compaction-reducing characteristics of the tractors towing them.
Why Choose Alliance VF Tires?
One characteristic that helps Alliance VF tires stand apart from the competition is that they’re all steel-belted, which boosts the advantages already offered by VF tires. One of the primary benefits of steel-belted VF tires includes providing a flatter, more even footprint. This ensures the weight of equipment is spread uniformly across the tread of the tire and helps prevent soil compaction.
Another thing that farmers love about Alliance Agriflex tires is that they’re backed with a 10-year warranty. The warranty shows that Alliance is committed to not only delivering low-pressure tires for every stage of the farm cycle, but also to providing high-quality tires that farmers can trust.
Other Benefits of Alliance Agriflex+ Tires
• A 10-year warranty demonstrates Alliance’s commitment to delivering high-quality, low-pressure tires farmers can trust
• Special compounds formulated to enhance durability and extend tire life
• Versatility thanks to innovative tread patterns and premium construction which enable them to offer high performance in the field and on the road
• D Speed Rating makes them excellent on-road performers capable of traveling at speeds up to 40 mph
Yokohama Off-Highway Tires America
Contact your local dealer or Alliance representative to learn more about Yokohama Off-Highway Tires America’s Alliance brand’s extensive range of VF tires as well as the other low-pressure flotation and IF tire solutions that are part of our Whole Farm Concept.
